Tainted Desire

by Brook Wilder

  Her eyes glimmered with tears. “I have to, Kris. I can’t stand by and watch this ship go down. There’s a divide coming between the Bitches and the Jesters and I know you can feel it as well. What happened to Siren and that CIA spook is just the beginning. Soon the clubs will be at each other’s throats again, and I don’t think any of us will come out alive.”

  “I don’t want this,” I tried again, hoping that she would change her mind. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  She gave me a sad smile. “Someone has to stand by the girls that have left.”

  But who was going to stand by me? I had lost my road captain, and now my vice president. God knew who else I was going to lose.

  All good women, women who had pledged their loyalty. That no longer mattered. “I tell you this,” I answered, swallowing my emotions in favor of my stone-cold expression. “I will always choose the good of the club.”

  “That will be your downfall then,” Mama Bear conceded. “Good luck, Kris.”

  I watched as she walked out, waiting for the moment that she would turn around and beg forgiveness, even though I knew she wouldn’t. Staring at the patch before me, I swept my arm over the desk, knocking everything to the ground in a loud crash. Mama Bear was gone. Siren was gone. Who was going to be next? Who would I lose because I had been attempting to protect the club? I hadn’t wanted them to know about Voodoo in their midst and now I knew I had been blinded by the fact that I was trying to protect them.

  When in reality, I should have let them decide if he was a threat or not.

  “Shit,” I whispered, slumping back in the chair. This was turning out to be a shitty day. I couldn’t turn to my husband for comfort, nor did I have much of a club left to do any damage whatsoever. My best friends had abandoned me and the ones that stayed probably wouldn’t be far off from leaving given that the council had crumbled around them.

  Soon it would just be me.

  Maybe we should have never joined up with the Jesters. There was nothing I could do about it now. I couldn’t promise them anything.

  Hell, I couldn’t even promise them a strong council.

  A shadow darkened the door and I pulled my gun, aiming it at the intruder. “You are pretty fucking stupid to show your face here.”

  Voodoo leaned against the doorway, a grin on his face. This close, I could see why Siren had fallen for him. I bet that devilish grin had weakened many a knee.

  Right now, I hated him.

  “You know, I’ve always respected you,” he stated after a moment. “It takes a strong woman to be married to Chains.”

  “Maybe it’s the other way around,” I answered, keeping my gun pointed at him. There must be something seriously wrong for Voodoo to even make his way into the club.

  Not that there were many to stop him.

  “Don’t worry,” he said softly, apparently reading my mind. “I didn’t hurt anyone. I came in over the fence in the back and made sure no one saw me.”

  “Listen, it’s been a long day,” I said. “And I really don’t want to be entertaining your ass, so state your business before I put a hole in your forehead.”

  His expression grew solemn and suddenly he looked as exhausted as I felt. “It’s Eileen. She’s going after Polanco.”

  I arched a brow. “And you didn’t join her?”

  “Let’s just say we had a disagreement and I have seen the error of my ways.”

  I hoped my husband would say the same thing before I killed him. “Do you love her?” I asked lightly. “She gave up everything for you.”

  Voodoo nodded without hesitation. “I do, and I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for what she lost, but I will be damned if I ever agree with what you did to her.”

  Another critic. Just what I needed. “What do you want?”

  “Help,” he stated, clearing his throat. “I’m not one to ask for it, and I know this is not the place I should have come to, but it’s the only place I know to go. For her.”

  He was right coming here. I cleared my throat, lowering the gun. “What do you need?” If this was what I could do to atone for Siren’s banishment and save her life at the same time, then I could start rebuilding the club back to its former glory.

  As he talked, I started to make a mental list. His demands weren’t a lot or impossible and if it meant bringing her back alive, then I was going to do it.

  Even if I was the only one riding next to my one-time mortal enemy. “I’ll help you,” I said once he was finished. “But for her, not for you.”

  The grin returned. “I wouldn’t want it any other way, Widow Maker.”

  Yeah, I just hoped I didn’t regret this decision like so many others.

  Chapter 23

  Siren

  “So, do you want to tell me yet?”

  The Aztecas’ member spit at my feet, a nasty look on his face. “No, you bitch. I will never tell you, no matter what you do to me.”

  “Huh,” I said, crossing the room and grabbing another finger. “Well then, I guess we will break another one. Maybe that’ll change your tune.”

  He gasped and then cried out as I broke his ring finger, the crack of the bone resounding in the small room. I was across the border, in a little town that didn’t have much.

  But what it did have was some rogue Aztecas who had been knee-deep in Polanco business at one time and would know where he would be hiding out in Mexico. I hadn’t experienced any trouble snatching one off the street and subduing him, dragging him to an abandoned house where his screams would be drowned out by the grist mill next door. I needed to know where Polanco was, and my time was starting to fade.

  Stepping back, I surveyed his writhing in the chair, straining against the ropes that held him there. “Try again?”

  He glared at me and I inwardly sighed. “You are going to drag this out, aren’t you?”

  No answer. I was going to run out of fingers soon, with only the pinky and the thumb left. If he didn’t talk, well, I didn’t know what I was going to do after that. Surely, he had to be hurting.

  By the look of his pale face, he was, but boy he was a tough bastard. I didn’t like this part of my former job, preferring to just put a bullet in them and figure out the rest. Ever since crossing over the border, I had kept my ear to the ground, trying to find something that would lead me to Polanco.

  All channels were quiet, which was highly unusual around these parts.

  So that came down to my friend here. Grabbing his pinky, I stared at him. “Are you sure you want to play like this?”

  The sweat was beading on his forehead, his eyes showing the pain that he was feeling. “You won’t do it.”

  I laughed, looking at the other eight fingers that were broken. “Are you serious? I mean, you are gonna struggle to hold your own cock when you piss.”

  His mouth tightened and for a moment I thought he would spit at me again. I applied pressure to his finger just to tease him and he bucked against it. “All right! He’s in his mansion, about an hour north from here.”

  I stared at him in surprise, not believing that he had waited until I had broken eight of his fingers before he told me.

  It had worked. “What mansion?”

  He grumbled. “The big one on the hill. It’s fucking impenetrable. You will die, bitch, before you set foot on the driveway.”

  “We will see about that,” I answered, my heart pounding in my chest. I had found Polanco. All the other details would work themselves out. “Thank you for your information.”

  “Hey! Are you gonna untie me?” he yelled as I started to walk away. “Untie me, bitch!”

  Yeah, not a Bitch anymore. I was just plain Eileen and it was going to be plain Eileen who took down Polanco.

  As I made my way to my bike, my cell rang and I pulled it out, doubly surprised to see Widow Maker’s number on the screen. Was she calling to apologize? Well, I wasn’t going to find out unless I answered.

  Sliding the screen, I held it up to my ear. “Yea
h.”

  “Eileen.”

  I sucked in a breath. “Daniel. What did you do?”

  He chuckled and I felt it clear to my toes. “Nothing, I swear. I’ve solicited a little bit of help.”

  “For what?” I asked, barely getting the words out. What was he doing? He should have been halfway to California now, but now he was calling from Widow Maker’s phone?

  “To help you get Polanco.”

  I couldn’t believe it. “What about California?”

  Another chuckle. “Well, I don’t have good news about that. You’re talking to a rogue agent, sweetheart, and the moment we kill Polanco, I will have to disappear into the wind.”

  Rogue? Daniel had gone rogue? He was shocking me at every turn. “But you love your job. Why would you do that?”

  “Some things are worth it,” he said softly. “I’m coming for you, Eileen, and I want to tell you to your face why I’ve done what I did.”

  He was taking my breath away. “You better,” I forced out, trying not to think too much into it. “Polanco is in his mansion an hour north of Telsa. I’m headed there now.”

  “We will meet you there,” he stated. “Don’t, Eileen. Just wait for me, all right?”

  I was tempted to tell him I was doing this without him, but my heart warmed at what he had done, what he had given up to come after me. “Why should I trust you?”

  “Because,” Daniel said softly. “I trusted you enough to save my life the first time. I want to return the favor. Trust me, Eileen. Let me prove it to you.”

  It seemed we were even again. “All right.”

  I ended the call and tucked the phone in my pocket, slinging a leg over my bike. It seemed my luck had turned and if I could stay alive, there was going to be a conversation between Daniel and I. He had gone rogue. I was no longer a club member.

  Maybe we were a match after all.

  ***

  It took a little over an hour for me to reach the mansion and I stopped at the end of the long, winding drive, looking up at the massive house on the hill. The Azteca hadn’t lied. From my vantage point I could see men on the roof, carrying machine guns and peering down at the grounds below.

  I climbed off my bike, pulling into a rocky outcropping, and took a moment to catch my breath and take a drink of water while I was at it. I was nervous about seeing Daniel again, wondering how my heart was going to take it.

  I didn’t know if I could take the reunion. When he had walked away, I didn’t plan on seeing him again. Would it be awkward between us?

  I didn’t have to wait long. A jeep pulled up behind me and I watched with my pulse fluttering as Daniel hopped out of the passenger side. He was dressed in all black, causing my blood to run hot as I took in his gorgeous profile and when our eyes locked, I let out a little sigh. “Eileen,” he said, giving me a once-over, his eyes telling me everything I needed to know. “You all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I said breathlessly, extremely excited to see him. “I hope you brought an army.”

  His gaze warmed and I saw the beginnings of a dimple on his cheek. “I don’t need one, sweetheart. Come see.”

  I kept my distance as I walked over to the jeep. What I really wanted to do was throw myself at him and have him not let go for a long, long time. Instead, I stopped a few feet from the jeep, coming face-to-face with Gun Jesus. “Hey, Siren,” the weapons dealer smirked, his eyes glittering with mischief. “Surprised to see me?”

  “A little,” I admitted, especially after our last visit with him. First Widow Maker, now Gun Jesus. I felt like I was in some weird twilight zone all of a sudden. “You do know who he is, right?”

  Gun Jesus slid a glance over to Daniel. “Yeah, we made our peace. Besides, we get this guy and life starts to look promising again. That, I can dig. What the good Lord takes away, he will replace and provide.”

  I was sure that wasn’t how that biblical phrase went.

  Daniel grinned, shaking his head. “Trust me, it wasn’t easy. I had to phone a friend or two to make this happen.”

  I figured he was talking about Widow Maker and I was impressed that he had made it out of the club alive. “What’s the plan?”

  “Oh, I got that covered,” Gun Jesus said, pointing to the back. I looked over and saw that there were grenade launchers, drones, and other large weapons packed in the back. It seemed that they had brought everything including the kitchen sink.

  It was far more than I had. “Our plan is this,” Daniel was explaining, pointing to the drone. “We fly that thing up there and catch their attention, then we assault them with the launchers. That will buy us enough time to take the jeep and ram through the gates.”

  “I already made a call or two,” Gun Jesus explained with a grin. “There’s not a lot of guards there today, maybe twenty or so, with half of them on the roof. An informant has told me that at this time of the day, Polanco chooses to take a nap. By the time we hit the mansion, he won’t have time to get anything heavy started before we lay down the hammer, the almighty hammer of God!”

  “And,” Daniel said, clearly enjoying this, “I might have called the CIA and made an anonymous tip giving our location. We won’t have much time to kill him before they get here; ten minutes tops once we blow the roof off the place.”

  They had thought of it all, other than how we were going to get out of the mansion alive. “Well then,” I swallowed, rubbing my hands together. “Let’s get started.”

  Gun Jesus let out a gleeful sound as he clambered out of the jeep, rummaging around the weapons. I glanced over at Daniel and found him watching me intently. I still couldn’t believe he was here, helping me. “You are gonna be in so much trouble, aren’t you?”

  Chapter 24

  Voodoo

  She was worried about me. I could read it all over her face and I knew that the past twenty-four hours hadn’t dimmed her love for me.

  I just hoped we got out of this shit so I could show her how much I loved her. “Yeah,” I finally said as Gun Jesus pulled the weapons out, humming to himself as he laid them in the dirt. “I am in a world of shit.”

  She nodded. “I can’t believe you got him here.”

  Grinning, I looked over at the weapons expert. “That was Widow Maker. But if you ask me, I think he thrives on this kind of shit.” Besides that, I had promised to give him some key holds in Texas for weapons that were just sitting there, waiting to be used.

  It would be my going-away present to the CIA.

  Her eyes stayed on me. “You went to the club, didn’t you?”

  I swung back to look at her lovely face. “Yeah, I did. She didn’t shoot me, either. I think she might have even been happy to see me.” After I explained everything to Widow Maker, she made some calls while I waited for the next step in my plan. I considered it a great success that she never picked up that gun again.

  Eileen laughed. “I doubt that.”

  I grinned, unable to help it. “I don’t know. I think I’m growing on her.”

  Somehow during our conversation, she had drifted closer to me, until we were mere inches apart. I reached out and cupped her cheek, rubbing my thumb over her skin. “I’m so damn sorry,” I said in a low voice, for her ears only. “And I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you.”

  She let out a shaky laugh. “Unless this is it and you will be let off the hook.”

  I touched my forehead with hers. “I sincerely hope not, Eileen. I have plans, loads of plans, and I want you to be part of those plans.”

  She sighed and I breathed in her scent, not believing that she was standing before me again. “Can’t we just blow up the house now?”

  “I don’t think Gun Jesus brought that much firepower.”

  With a choked laugh, Eileen pulled away and I reluctantly let her. If nothing else today, I needed to get us both out of this alive so we could continue this conversation between us.

  That, and I really wanted to hold her against me.

  “Come here
and choose your poison, friends,” Gun Jesus called out. “It’s time to make some noise.”

  We did as he asked, arming ourselves with so many guns that I thought I was going to fall over from the weight. Still, with guns strapped to my front and my back, along with a line of grenades hanging from the tactile vest pulled over my chest, I felt like myself again, from my days overseas. No wonder Gun Jesus was always happy.

  I would be with all this firepower around me constantly.

  Eileen was dressed similarly and as I watched Gun Jesus outfit her, I felt the concern and emotion clog my throat. I didn’t like the idea of her going into that mansion, into the gunfire, and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell her to stay behind.